Global Microbrand

There is a new concept in the business world called "global microbrand" that was coined several years back. For those not familiar with the phrase it basically means in a niche market you have a brand that sells all over the world but not yet at the tipping point on being able to produce in massive quantity the product being sold. There are some deaf-owned businesses that does this on their own designing, making and selling their own technology products. sComm is one of those very few businesses that does that. And by saying "very few" it's a true statement around here. sComm has a global microbrand called the "UbiDuo" which has been sold worldwide and it continues to grow. No matter how small or big this niche market is as long as there is big enough interest in a product there's money to be made and profited. In this case the UbiDuo has been proven to be a money maker ever since the first year it debuted.

sComm began as a company in 2002 and debut the UbiDuo communication device on April 22, 2006 at DeafNation. Jason Curry, who is deaf and the CEO of sComm, never looked back once his product took off that year and saw sales rise each year. It has been 5 years since the opening day when the UbiDuo was made available to the public. Most new businesses do not survive past 5 years and go out of business. But sComm is nothing but normal as a business in an economy that has been suffering for the last few years. In fact, in a depressed economy sComm is actually thriving because people are quickly finding out the value of 100% accessible communication of the English language. 

Looking back 5 years ago the year when UbiDuo first exploded into the conscious minds of many deaf people you had your naysayers and detractors on this new technology, a soon to be global microbrand. You had your deaf techno geeks and so called "experts" who derided and made fun of the Ubiduo and the CEO of sComm for making that communication device seeing it as "worthless" and not "doable."  This was a product I recognized several years back seeing it as potentially a valuable communication device for deaf people. A niche market I knew that Jason Curry, the CEO, could easily help fill not just in the United States but worldwide for deaf users who know English. And that's a lot of people my friends. Not really so "niche-y" if you think about it.

I first heard about the upcoming communication device back in 2004 from Jason Curry, CEO of sComm. Even the people at NIH was impressed with Jason's vision that his company was awarded a $1.3 million dollar grant in February of 2005 to help fund the Phase II of sComm's product that would enable face-to-face communication betweeen deaf and hearing people, and between people in other communication-challenged situations.

Again, you had those deaf self-appointed techno-geeks and so called "experts" on technology and communication laugh at Jason's vision and product only to be proven wrong year after year after year.  Jason easily made fools of those so called "experts" in the world of micro branding. The superb quality that goes behind every Ubiduo stands on its own. I've seen it with my own eyes which validated my strong belief that Jason's vision was right on the mark that this communication device can help deaf people communicate effortlessly with hearing people. And that alone could potentially help a deaf person's own career as well with the ability to effortlessly interact with hearing people.

But in a world of deaf people who rely on sign language to communicate where some have been resistant and one-minded that they must have interpreters  24/7 available to them in order to communicate with their hearing peers, friends, co-workers, supervisors or bosses, that idea simply will not work in all cases. Not everybody can have the luxury on having a personal interpreter shadow you all day long like Marlee Matlin's own personal interpreter.  Don't get me wrong, having an interpreter is quite important in many cases but having or demanding an interpreter in nearly every single situation doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the world of business where English is king. Most of your co-workers, supervisors, clients and customers are hearing people who use English to communicate on a daily basis whether on paper or by voice. It makes good business sense to interact with hearing people using English on a daily basis.

Let me ask you this question.

What would you say about a deaf worker who worked as a greeter at Sam's Club for 12 years without having any other responsibilities or promotion? What would you say upon learning about a deaf worker who obtained a piece of communication technology called the "UbiDuo" that allowed him access to hearing customers and because of that technology he was promoted three times and now supervises 20 hearing people in a space of a few years? How much would you pay for that piece of technology that would allow you to interact and communicate with hearing people where signing isn't involved nor required?

Before you answer that there's a sobering reality what many culturally deaf people do not realize in the world of business.  In the United States in one federal agency with 37 deaf employees it had to spend $2.7 million dollars a year on interpreting fees alone.  On average that turns out to be $73,000 per year for each deaf person. In a time of budget cuts, downsizing and rising unemployment rates the bottom line has become quite apparent for all federal agencies, state government agencies and companies in lean times all over the world, and not just in the United States. There are efforts underway by companies and such to find ways to help control their cost , especially among those who are not so "English-impaired" and can communicate using English instead of acting like helpless people who don't know a lick of English and demand sign language interpreters in every possible or impossible scenarios.

Deaf people have a choice. Either they take the reign and show what they're capable of by showing their independence on their capability to interact with hearing people. Or become overly dependent on interpreters when their English is sufficient to communicate in the first place in face to face scenarios. If you can chat online, use the email, use the TTY, go on discussion forums over the internet and type everything in English, then certainly you have the capability to use the UbiDuo instead of using interpreters as a crutch.  Either you can stand up and speak for yourself in your own words or have a third person do the speaking for you all the time. The choice is really yours to make.